Blast furnace construction



May i12, w35.'

o. R. RICE 04,532

BLAST TURNACE CONSTRUCTION Filed Nov. s, 1954 fw @W Patented May 12, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Owen R. Rice, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Freyn Engineering Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Maine Application November 3, 1934, Serial No. 751,275

8 Claims.

The invention relates to blast furnace construction and has reference particularly to improved means which will conduct the gases from a blast furnace in a manner to effectively remove the solid particles such as pieces of coke carried along in the gas streams and which will return them to the furnace.

In apparatus as heretofore constructed the blast furnace gases have been conducted from )o the top of the furnace by offtakes which join with uptakes extending vertically upward and terminating in a bleeder valve. At a point usually high up on the uptakes are provided connections for the downtakes which lead off substantially at right angles and then turn downwardly forming the downcomers proper which connect directly with the dust catcher. In operation the momentum of the solid particles of coke or other material carried along with the O gases into the uptakes wo-uld cause the same to S travel upwardly in a straight line beyond the point where the downtakes lead off. Eventually the solid particles lose their momentum because of the absence of flow of gas in the highest part o.; of the uptakes and fall downwardly by gravity.

" In prior constructions a large proportion of the solid particles in their downward travel have been swept into the downtakes to be deposited along with the dust and dirt from the gases into the 3U dust catcher whereby they were lost as furnace material or were recovered at considerable expense in a deteriorated condition.

An object of the invention is to improve the operation of the prior constructions above de- 35 scribed to insure discharge of the solid particles from the gas stream and removal of said particles from the inuence of the gas stream entering the downtakes.

A more specific object of the invention is the 40 provision of novel means above the connection of the uptakes with the downtakes for contacting with the solid particles projected upwardly -to discharge them from the gas stream and remove them from the influence of the gases enter- 45 ing the downtakes so that they can be returned by gravity to the furnace.

With these and various other objects in View the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be 50 more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawing and claims appended hereto.

In the drawing which illustrates an embodiment of the invention and wherein like reference `55 characters are used to designate like parts- Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing a blast furnace provided with the improved downcomers of the invention, and

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the improved construction of downcomers shown in Figure 1.

The improvements of the invention are shown in connection with a conventional type blast furnace designated in its entirety by I0, having the cone-shaped upper end I I which is equipped with the usual receiving hopper and charging bell not shown. 'Ihe material for charging the blast furnace consisting of ores, coke, limestone, etc. is admitted thro-ugh the opening I2 in the top thereof and is delivered to the interior of the furnace 1.5 at intervals by actuation of the charging bell as is well known in blast furnace operation. Flring of the furnace to ignite the fuel causes a reduction of the ore and the Iiux which results in the generation of gases known as blast furnace gases and in order that these gases, which have a high heating value, may be used in other operations, they are conducted from the top of the furnace and passed through dust collectors and tower gas washers to remove the ne dust and 2 dirt particles carried along in the gas` streams. As the furnaces are fired by hot air blasts the gases leaving the top of the furnace have a high velocity and therefore carry with them `solid material in the form of large pieces of coke and the like. To secure the highest eiiciency in blast furnace operation it is desirable to retrieve the pieces of coke and return them to the furnace before they have become contaminated with dust, which results when the pieces are carried over into the dust collector.

In the embodiment of the invention show-n in the drawing the gases are conducted from the blast furnace Ill by offtakes I3 which lead from the cone-shaped portion of the furnace and con- 40 nect with uptakes I4 extending vertically upward for a considerable distance. The uptakes join with a housing designated in its entirety by I5 forming a continuation of the uptake and which terminates at its upper end in a bleeder valve I6. Each uptake joins with a downtake I'I which likewise has communication with the housing I5. The lgases from the uptakes are discharged into the do-wntakes which lead off at substantially right angles thereto and immediately turn downward to form the downcomers I8, which connect in as direct a line as possible with dust .collectors not shown.

Pieces of solid material that may be carried by the gases into the uptakes will be caused by Ag their momentum to travel upwardly beyond the connection with the downtakes and as a result will come in contact with the diagonal deflecting wall 2D provided by the housing I5. The wall of each housing extends from the connection with the downtake diagonally above the uptake so that the same is positioned in the direct path of the solid -materials projected by said uptake, whereby said pieces of solid material are caused to come into Contact with said diagonal wall, which is preferably provided with wear plates I9 to resist the abrasive action of the solid material. The wall 2U slopes so as to deflect the material contacting therewith away from the gas stream entering the downtake and as the material gradually loses its momentum as it reaches the upper part of housing I5 it falls by gravity downward, as clearly shown by the dotted lines in Figure 2. The discharge of the material outwardly away from the gas stream entering the downtake functions to remove theY material from the influence of said stream and the same travels past the connection to the bottom of housing I5.

Figure 2 shows a front View of the improved construction of the invention and particularly illustrates the connection of two adjacent housings I5 wth each other and with a single return for the delivery of the retrieved particles to the furnace. More specifically, the inside walls 2| of housings I5 are joined by wall 22 and the outside walls 23 of said housings connect at their base with conduit 24 leading to the interior of the furnace and thus providing a return for the pieces of solid material collected by the housings I5. VItrwill be understood that gases will also be conducted from the furnace by the return conduits 24 but as the uptakes offer a much larger outlet, the greater volume of gas will leave the furnace through these uptakes. To minimize the flow of the gases from the furnace through the return conduits 24 the invention provides pivoted doors 25 in the base of each housing I5, the doors pivotally connecting with the respective ends of wall 22 and depending therefrom to close off each housing from connection with the return conduit. In operation the pressure of the gases in the return conduit 24 is sufcient to maintain the doors 25 closed to thus prevent passage of the gases into the housings I5. However, after a -period of time the pieces of solid material collecting in the base of the housings will have suflicient weight to cause the respective door to swing inwardly, allowing the solid material to pass intoV the return conduits and into the furnace.

The present apparatus has proven highly effective in removing solid particles from the gases conducted from blast furnaces. The housings which provide a continuation of the uptakes do .not interfere with the flo-w of the gases from the Vfurnace as the downtakes lead off from the uptakes at their connection with the housings and the gases ow from one conduit to the other Without interruption or without a noticeable decrease in velocity. VTherefore the solid particles are projected with full momentum into contact with a .diagonal wall 20 and areV diverted well out of the influence of the gas stream entering the downtakes.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details of construction of the particular embodiment thereof illustrated by the drawing, as various other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritv of the invention or the scope of` the claims.

What is claimed isi 1. Means for conducting gases from a blast furnace including an uptake extending vertically from the top of the furnace and communicating with the interior thereof, a .downtake connectj the gas stream entering the downtake.

2. Means for conducting gases from` a blast furnace including an uptake extending vertically from the top of the furnace and communicating with the interior thereof, a downtake connecting therewith for receiving the gases from the uptake, and a housing forming a continuation of the uptake and connecting with the same and with the downtake, said housing providing a deflecting wall above said connection and over the uptake for contacting solid material projected from the uptake to discharge the same from the gas stream.

3. Means for conducting gases from a blast furnace including an uptake extending vertically from the top of the furnace and communicating with the interior thereof, a downtake con-- necting therewith for receiving the gases from the uptake, a housing forming a continuation of the uptake and connecting with the same and with the downtake, said housing providing a diagonal wall above said connection and over the uptake for contacting solid material projected from the uptake to discharge the same from the gas stream, whereby said solid material in descending is removed from the influence of the gas stream entering the downtake, and a return conduit connecting with the base of said housing for returning the solid material to the furnace.

4. In a blast furnace, an uptake connecting with the top of the furnace for conducting gases therefrom, a downtake connecting with said uptakel and receiving 'the gases therefrom, a housing joining with the uptake and downtake at said connection, a diagonal wall provided by said housing above the connection, said wall extending over the vuptake for diverting pieces of solid material projected from the uptake out of the inuence of the gas stream, and a return conduit connecting with the base of said housing for returning said pieces of solid material to the furnace.

5. In a blast furnace, an uptake connecting with the top of the furnace and extending vertically upwards for conducting gases from said furnace, a downtake 'connecting with the uptake at a. point Vhigh up thereon and receiving the gases therefrom, a housing joining with the uptake and downtake at said connection, a diagonal wall provided by said housing above the downtake, said wall extending over the uptake for contacting with pieces of solid material projected from the uptake to discharge said material from the gas stream, whereby said material is removed from the influence of the gas stream entering the downtake and falls by gravity to the base of the housing, a return conduit connected with the base of the housing for returning the material to the furnace, and means normally cling the connection between the housing and the return 'conduit butl opening to allow delivery of the material to the return conduit.

6. In a blast furnace, an uptake connecting with the top of the furnace for conducting gases therefrom, a downtake having a right angle connection with said uptake and receiving gases therefrom,

a housing joining with the uptake and downtake at said connection, a diagonal Wall provided by said housing above the connection, said wall extending over the uptake and laterally away from the downtake for deflecting pieces of solid material projected from the uptake out of the influence of the gas stream, a return conduit connecting with the base of the housing for returning said pieces of solid material to the furnace, and a. pivoted door normally closing the connection between the housing and return conduit but opening to allow delivery of the material to the conduit.

7. In a blast furnace, a plurality of uptakes connecting with the top of the furnace and extending vertically upwards for conducting gases from said furnace, a downtake joining with each of said uptakes providing substantially a right angle connection, a housing for each of said uptakes forming a continuation thereof and connecting with its downtake, a diagonal wall provided by said housing above the downtake and extending laterally over the uptake for deflecting pieces of solid material projected from the uptake to cause discharge of said material from the gas stream, and a return conduit connecting with the base of two adjacent housings for returning the material from said housings to the furnace.

8. In a blast furnace, a plurality of uptakes connecting with the top of the furnace and extending vertically upwards for conducting gases from said furnace, a downtake connecting with each of said uptakes and receiving the gases therefrom, a housing for each of said uptakes forming a continuation thereof and connecting with its downtake, a diagonal wall provided by said housing above the downtake and extending laterally over the uptake for deecting pieces of solid material projected from the uptake to cause discharge of said material from the gas stream, a return conduit connecting with the base of two adjacent housings for returning the material from the housings to the furnace, and a member normally closing the connection between each housing and the return conduit but opening to allow delivery of material therefrom to the return conduit.

OWEN R. RICE. 

